Eureka Steamrolls Parkway South Baseball; Soccer Showdown Tonight

Patch takes a look at the latest news and notes from the Suburban West Conference, including the postseason getting under way.

GIRLS SOCCER
Three Suburban West Conference soccer teams and one Suburban West baseball team captured district championships last week.

Northwest, Lindbergh and Lafayette were all victorious in soccer.

Northwest won the Class 3 District 1 title with wins over Poplar Bluff (4-1) and Seckman (3-1). Kylee Hamilton and Jessica Mess scored goals in the championship game. There was also an own goal.

Lindbergh won the Class 3 District 2 championship in dramatic fashion. The Flyers, who were seeded fourth, had shutout wins over Mehlville (2-0) and top-seeded Cor Jesu (1-0) as goalkeeper Nina Tzianos was able to shut down each opponent. Lindbergh fell behind Rockwood Summit, 2-0, in the championship game last Friday. The Flyers scored two second-half goals, one in the final three minutes, and then got the game-winner from Mackenzie Giegling in the second overtime.

Lindbergh and Northwest will play each other in the Class 3 sectional game on Tuesday night. The teams played late in the regular season as Northwest scored two second-half goals in a 2-1 win on May 5.

Lafayette won the Class 3 District 4 title and, like Lindbergh, had to go to overtime in the championship game. Kate Barber and Ashley Parks scored the Lancers goals in a 2-1 win over Eureka in the championship. Lafayette had beaten Marquette 1-0 on penalty kicks in the semifinals.

The Lancers will travel to Ursuline on Tuesday in a Class 3 sectional. Lafayette defeated Ursuline 2-1 at St. Dominic on April 30.

Eureka had reached the title game after a 4-1 win over Parkway South in the semifinals. Hannah Leinert scored three goals for the Wildcats.

Oakville lost its first game in the Class 3 District 2 Tournament to Summit. Lauren Fussell scored the lone Tigers goal.

Mehlville and Fox each fell in the first round in District 2. The Panthers lost to eventual champion Lindbergh 2-0 while Fox lost to Summit, 6-0.

BASEBALL

The Eureka baseball team saved its best for last in winning the Class 4 District 4 baseball championship.

The Wildcats needed 10 innings to defeat Marquette 7-3 in their opener. They followed with an amazing 16-1 win over top-seeded and conference champion Parkway South in the semifinals. Eureka scored nine runs in the first inning against the Patriots. The championship game and semifinal were both finished in five innings by the 10-run rule. Eureka defeated Lafayette 10-0 in the title game. Aaron Schnurbusch had four runs batted in and Nick Jacobs and Ryan Emmerson combined for the shutout.

Eureka will play Vianney in the Class 3 sectional on Tuesday.

Oakville was the top seed in Class 4 District 2, but fell in its first game against Hillsboro, 5-3. The Hawks, who were seeded eighth in the eight-team district, took a 5-0 lead. Oakville scored three runs in the sixth inning but could get no closer. Hillsboro went on to record two more upsets and won the district.

Mehlville scored six runs in each of the first two innings in its opener and defeated Festus, 12-2, in five innings. Jeff Creamer and Mark O'Moran had three RBI each for the Panthers. Mehlville was the second upset victim of Hillsboro in the semifinals. The Hawks scored four runs in the third inning en route to a 5-3 win.

Fox lost its district opener, falling to Windsor 4-2.

Drew Heinlein was the winning pitcher as Lindbergh defeated Webster Groves, 6-4, in its Class 4 District 3 opener. The Flyers lost in the second round to Rockwood Summit 6-3.

Marquette lost a heartbreaker in the first round of the Class 4 District 4 tournament in 10 innings to Eureka. Keith Grieshaber had three hits for the Mustangs.

Lafayette advanced to the finals with wins over Washington (8-5) and Pacific (10-0).

Northwest lost its opening district game to Seckman 14-10 despite two doubles and a triple from Matt Fisher and three hits and three RBI by Adam Hanks.

GOLF

Two conference golfers finished in the top five in the Class 4 state golf tournament. Parkway South's Kyle Weldon finished fourth. He was the first-round leader with a 70 and followed with a 78. Eureka's Theodore Jones finished fifth (74-76).

Other Suburban West golfers who finished in the top 40 include: Marquette's Zach Gollwitzer (27th with an 82-77); Parkway South's David Arth (31st with a 78-82); and Eureka's Matt Miklas (31st with an 80-80).

TENNIS

Three Suburban West tennis players will be competing in the state tournament this Friday and Saturday in Springfield. Mehlville's Jeremy Sellmeyer will play in singles and Mick Lyons and Jake Goodman of Lafayette will compete in doubles.

Lafayette will also be playing in the team tournament on Thursday after a dramatic 5-4 win over Kirkwood last Saturday at Kirkwood Park. The match came down to No. 1 doubles with Lyons and Goodman defeating Kirkwood's Drew Morris and Tanner Morris in three sets. It is the first appearance at the state team tournament for the Lancers since 2003.

The Lancers had defeated CBC earlier in the day 5-3 in the sectional round.

"I knew coming into today that we needed to play great tennis to get through," Lafayette coach Mark McAllister said. "CBC is a very deep team and I knew if we got past them that the match against Kirkwood would be 50-50. Kirkwood has such history and tradition and I knew we needed to play our best.

“It came down to the third set of the ninth match but we pulled it out. I couldn't be happier."

The Oakville tennis team had its best season in school history with a 12-4 record. Ian Furey played No. 1 singles for a Tigers team which advanced to the team sectionals for the second year in a row. The Tigers fell to Kirkwood for the second year in a row.

TRACK

At the Class 4 Sectional 1 Track Meet on Saturday at Lafayette High School, the Eureka girls were dominant in the relay events. The Wildcats won the 4x100 and 4x200 as Paige Biles, Alana Hester, Laura King and Kristin McIntyre ran both sectional champion relays. The Wildcats ran a 48.86 in the 4x100 and 1:44.28 in the 4x200.

Hester was also a member of the 4x400-meter relay team which finished second. Jessie McNeel, Alyssa Rebecca and Jill Rechtein ran the other legs. McNeel, Rebecca and Rechtein teamed with Eilish Overby to finish second in the 4x800.

Colleen Quiqley and Nicole Douglas were double sectional champions last Saturday. Quigley, a senior from Nerinx Hall, won the 1,600 (5:02.35) and the 3,200 (11:16.05). Douglas, a junior from Parkway West, won both hurdle events. She ran a 14.99 in the 100 and 45.22 in the 300.

Taron Street was Marquette’s lone sectional champion. The senior won the 300-meter boys hurdles (38.22). He also got through in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing second to Caldwell.

Patch Suburban West Boys Athlete of The Week

Eureka baseball player Tanner McKay has been named the Patch Suburban West Boys Athlete of the Week. McKay, a senior first baseman, had a tremendous district tournament in leading the Wildcats to the district championship. McKay had three hits, including a double and home run, and drove in three runs in a 7-3 win over Marquette. He followed with three more extra base hits, two doubles and a home run, and drove in four runs in a 16-1 win over Parkway South in the semifinals and also had a hit in the championship game.

For the season, McKay is batting .409 with a team-high 36 hits, 11 doubles and 31 RBI. 

Patch Suburban West Girls Athlete of The Week

Lindbergh's Mackenzie Giegling is the Patch Girls Athlete of the Week. Giegling scored the championship winner in the second overtime of a 3-2 win over Rockwood Summit in the district championship game. She is only the seventh-leading scorer for the Flyers this season, yet managed to tally the team’s most important goal to date.